Personalized Genetics: The User Aspect

by Dr. Bertalan Meskó on March 20, 2008

As personalized genetics is still rising, users start to write more and more posts about these genetic services. And this user aspect should and will play a major role in the future of genomic medicine.

Do not trust any genetic testing company that does not make it clear what genetic variants they are analyzing. Never let anyone take your DNA unless they are clear about what they plan to do with it, what information they will give you from the analysis, and what they’ll do with the DNA after all the testing is complete. You are the consumer. You have the right to choose and the right to say no.

Steve Murphy asks an interesting questions. So what if we have a 1000 USD genome? What would we have? I guess only one thing would change: we would have our genomes on a USB drive. That’s all. The medical aspect couldn’t change in such a short period of time. We still need years of research to be able to use properly that amount of genomic data.

While writing your answer in the comment section, listen to a presentation about Decision Making in the Genomic Era: